Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus
by notsing
Summary: Antisemitism raises it's ugly head.  Kidfic. I don't own Numb3rs.


,Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus

_First, I don't own Numb3rs. I forgot to say that the last time I posted, so I want to make sure I say so now._

_Second, my husband still has health issues, but he's so much better, we hate to complain. We're just taking it one day at a time._

_Next, this story has been in my head FOREVER. It's changed a lot over the years, but the basics have stayed the same. I'm glad to finally get it down. It has an ugly theme, so beware._

_I'll have more to say at the end of the story, but I do want to explain the title; it's a tip of the hat to the Rolling Stones, and it's from their song, 'The Girl with the Far Away Eyes'._

Don didn't remember the first time he met Cliff Peters, but he knew about it. The story had become of the personal family legends that all families have.

He was three years old, and the Eppes had just moved into their new home in Pasadena. Everything was still piled around in boxes, which Margaret was trying to unpack and organize. She wasn't getting much help from her menfolk; Alan kept suggesting throwing everything away and getting new, and Donnie kept whining for his toy dinosaur.

When the doorbell rang, Donnie raced to answer it, his worried parents hot on his heels. The couple at the door reminded Margaret of the old nursery rhyme, 'Jack Sprat, who could eat no fat, and his wife could eat no lean.'

The man was painfully skinny and colorless, with sandy, thin hair. His wife was short, stout and dumpy, with blonde hair and watery blue eyes. They looked to be about the same age as Alan and Margaret, and they had a little tow-haired boy who was about Donnie's age.

Mothers of young children are ALWAYS looking for playmates for their youngsters, so Margaret was anxious to be polite, yet she honestly wasn't up to guests, with the house such a mess.

She said as much, apologetically, but the couple assured her they couldn't stay.

"I'm Roger Peters, and this is my wife Martha, and our son Cliff. We just wanted to introduce ourselves, and welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alan Eppes, my wife Margaret, and this is Donnie."

"Maybe when we have things in order, you could stop by for coffee," offered Margaret.

"Thank you, that would be nice," responded Roger. "May I inquire what church you attend?"

Alan and Margaret exchanged glances.

"We don't actually go to church."

"You could join ours," said Roger eagerly. "It's just a couple of blocks away, and it's called the Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus."

"My husband's the pastor," added Martha proudly.

"Thank-you, but we're actually Jewish," explained Alan.

The Peters stared blankly.

"You mean, you're not saved?"

"I believe you should leave now," said Margaret, firmly.

"Jesus still loves you!" yelled Roger. "He'll forgive you murdering him! All you have to do is ask him! Go on your knees and beg for him to be your personal savior!"

"Get out of my home!" Alan thundered back.

"Repent!" screamed Martha, "or you'll burn in hell! Your little boy will burn in hell! He can be saved! Repent!"

Alan finally managed to slam the door, and for the next couple of years the Eppes tried to avoid the Peters as much as possible. Unfortunately, Cliff was in Donnie's kindergarden class.

At the beginning of the year, Ms. Adams had each child stand up, introduce themselves, and tell something interesting about themselves.

Little Donnie knew just what he was going to say.

"I'm Donnie Eppes, and I have a new baby brother. His name's Charlie."

Cliff immediately piped up, "Can you bring him in so we can see his horns and tail?"

There was a twitter throughout the class, and Ms. Adams exclaimed, "Cliff! That was not nice! Say you're sorry!"

"But he's a Jew," protested Cliff. "Jews are born with horns and tails."

"They are not! Sit down and be quiet. Thank you Donnie, you may sit down too."

Donnie sat, confused. Daddy said his brother had a good set of lungs 'caused he screamed a lot. But Donnie was sure there were no horns on that soft small head, and he knew Charlie didn't have a tail.

When he told Mom and Dad about it, they said Cliff was being stupid and to ignore him. So Donnie tried to stay away from Cliff.

Then came the day before winter break. Donnie was already feeling left out, because all the other kids were talking about Santa Claus, and the Christmas presents they wanted.

Cliff came in with a bag full of candy canes, and he told Ms. Adams his parents had sent them as a present for everyone in the class. He was allowed to walk around the class, handing them out.

Donnie didn't like Cliff, but he did like peppermint, so he was looking forward to his candy cane. But Cliff smirking, skipped him.

"Cliff!" exclaimed Ms. Adams, "you forgot Donnie! Either everyone gets one, or no one does!"

Donnie was very aware of the resentful stares of his classmates, while Cliff turned mulish.

"He's a Jew! Jews aren't saved! And they don't have Christmas because Jesus doesn't love them! So Santa Claus doesn't either!"

"That's enough young man! You stop that talk and give Donnie a candy cane, or everyone else has to throw theirs away!"

So Cliff reluctantly handed Donnie a candy cane, who just as reluctantly took it. After school, making sure Cliff saw him, Donnie marched over to the waste basket and threw it away.

The Eppes complained about the incident, and the school finally put Cliff in a different classroom.

As much as possible, Donnie put the whole experience out of his head, except when Mom mocked Martha Peters by screeching, "Repent! Repent!" The Peters became a joke to the Eppes, which is probably the best way to deal with such overwhelming ignorance.

However, there came a day in high school, when Don could no longer either laugh at, or ignore Cliff Peters.

Don had been at his locker, flirting with Val, when he heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight. Automatically, he turned to toward the commotion, when Cliff Peters voice was heard over the din.

"You dirty little kike! You think you're so smart, don't you? All you Jews think you're so much smarter than everyone else!"

Dreading he knew who Cliff was calling a kike, Don went flying. He wasn't wrong. Charlie, eyes wide, face white, trembling and looking terrified was backed in a corner, cowering from Cliff.

Don had waited a long time for this chance. He poked Cliff in the back, saying loudly, "Hey, you filthy WASP!"

When a surprised Cliff turned to face him, Don grinned, "You Christians preach turn the other cheek, but we Jews believe in an eye for an eye." And finally, at last (and it was well worth the weeks of detention he got), Don blacked both of Cliff's eyes.

_I know the ending's abrupt, but I honestly can't see a real resolution here. People like the Peters seldom change._

_The part about little Charlie having horns and a tail was inspired by Chaim Potok's 'In the Beginning'._

_I'm sure most fans know the Eppes became a Jewish family backwards, so to speak. The family wasn't meant to be Jewish, but when David Krumholtz was cast as Charlie, they decided to make the Eppes Jewish. If they had been thinking, they might have changed the name to Epstein._

_I understand the creators and writers wanted to concentrate on math and crime, but I've always regretted that they never dealt with antisemitism. There are a few fanfics that deal with this subject, the best (I think) being Z Is for Zyklon B by Lisa Paris. There's also a story that has Don, Charlie and David being kidnapped by neo-Nazis, who force Charlie and David to watch while they first beat Don, then brand him with a Star of David._

_However, I'm not trying to deal with out-n-out murderers here, just nasty, small-minded people who spout hate. Unfortunately, there's way too many of them in the world, and the chances are good the Eppes brothers would have had to encounter a few._

_Thanks for reading._


End file.
